Sun puts the brakes on GPLv3 decision

In what I class as a sound decision, Sun Microsystems decided to hold off on deciding whether to adopt the General Public License version 3 (GPLv3) for its Solaris operating system until the license is finalized. Solaris will continue to be distributed under the Common Development and Distribution License while Sun awaits the finalization of GPLv3. While I don't hold any strong religious feelings for or against the GPLv3, I'm still of the view that right now is the time to perform strong preliminary evaluation of what it does and does not bring to the table. Making a call for or against the GPLv3 at this juncture will accomplish nothing more than it will when the license is confirmed. In this scenario, there's no 'first movers advantage' or any kind of 'last one is a rotten egg' penalty for hanging back.

Even for those already in the GPLv2 camp, the clock hasn't started ticking just yet. Not when a great deal of the hoopla surrounding GPLv3 centers on its DRM restrictions (not to imply this isn't a significant issue) as well as Linus Torvalds' lack of support for it. There is nothing inherently right or wrong with the GPLv3: it is what it is, namely an open source software license crafted as successor to version 2. Whether it meets the needs of the global open source community as a whole has yet to be seen. What is known is that the Free Software Foundation is hard at work addressing a great many of the hot-button issues involved with distributing, protecting and sharing open source software IP. Nonetheless, the third version can't be expected to cure every single ill which plagued its predecessor, especially considering the rate of change since version number two was released.

The bottom line is that the GPLv3 is still in the works (2nd draft). When it is finished it will be the first new version of a major open source licenses to be crafted and made public in what has become an entirely new world for open source software. As such, it is most likely going to set the tone for succeeding efforts -- serving as an example of what works as well as what doesn't -- going forward. As exciting as that is, right now is the time to wait and see.